Priority 1
Urgently secure preferential access
and co-manage 100% of coastal areas
Small-scale fishers’ tenure rights and access to fishing resources must be protected.
Women and men in artisanal fisheries must participate effectively in the decisions that affect them.
By 2030…
Governments should:
Grant small-scale fishers exclusive access rights to coastal fishing, by closing inshore areas to industrial fishing and other industrial activity and by protecting title, tenure, access, and resource rights;
Ensure free, prior and informed consent for any new ocean use or activity, including for conservation purposes and marine protected areas;
Implement co-management systems for 100% of all coastal areas, by putting in place specific legal frameworks that clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the authorities and fishers and by providing the appropriate support for fishers to engage (including for participatory surveillance, closed fishing seasons, etc); and
Guarantee sufficient financial means in annual national budgets to support these co-management systems.
We call on governments and their partners to build resilient small-scale fishing communities by developing national strategic plans to implement these actions by 2030.
These plans must be adequately funded and guided by the FAO Guidelines to Secure Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries and other relevant regional policies.
